This invention relates generally to thin film magnetic read heads and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a supersensitive magnetoresistive sensor.
Prior art magnetic read heads contain a first and second conductor with a magnetoresistive sensor strip connected to the ends of the conductors for reading bits of information stored on a storage medium. To increase the density of the recording tracks on the storage medium, the width of both the write head used to record the information and the read head must be reduced. A magnetoresistive sensor's ability to read recorded information is greatly reduced if the ratio of the width to the height of the sensor approaches unity. Should this ratio approach unity the shape anisotropy of the sensor is decreased thereby causing an instability of the single domain condition of the sensor. In order to maintain the shape anisotropy of the sensor strip, the ratio of the width to the height should at least be greater than unity and preferably three to one or greater. This has limited the extent to which the width of the sensor can be decreased.